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WORK TITLE: Audubon: On the Wings of the World
WORK NOTES: with Jeremie Royer, trans by Etienne Gilfillan
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
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NATIONALITY: French
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/fabien-grolleau-jeremie-royers-audubon-on-the-wing.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born January 1, 1972, in Cholet, France.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, publisher, entrepreneur, architect, and comics writer. Vida Cocagne (comics publisher), cofounder; also worked as an architect in France.
WRITINGS
Author of numerous works in French, including the graphic novel Jacques a dit.
Contributor to magazines, including Jade.
SIDELIGHTS
Fabien Grolleau is a French writer, publisher, and comic book writer. He is the cofounder of the publisher Vide Cocagne, for which he has written several comics and graphic novels in his native French. Grolleau is also an architect who has worked professionally in that field in France.
Audubon: On the Wings of the World, illustrated by Jeremie Royer, is Grolleau’s first graphic novel translated into English. The book presents a biographical exploration of the life of John James Audubon, a pioneering ornithologist and naturalist whose paintings and drawings of birds brought substantial awareness to the lives of these creatures and the need to preserve them and their habitats. Today, Audubon’s name is synonymous with birds, environmental science, and conservation, and his legacy lives on in organizations that bear his name, such as the National Audubon Society. Grolleau and Royer look back at Audubon’s life in their book, tracing how he became such as prominent figure in bird science and environmental issues.
Audubon was French-American, born in the colony of what was then called Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti. His father was in business, but young Audubon didn’t have the interest or ability to follow that path. He was, however, highly interested in nature, particularly birds, and he developed a natural artistic talent into the ability to create detailed drawings and paintings of his favorite subjects.
As the graphic novel opens, Audubon and two colleagues are on the trail of a group of Canadian geese. Audubon is so interested in the birds that he ignores an approaching thunderstorm. Eventually, the storm opens up on the three travelers, forcing them to quickly gather up drawings and papers and seek shelter in a cave. The scene sets the tone of Audubon’s life of single-minded determination to paint all the species of birds known to exist in early nineteenth-century America.
Grolleau and Royer show how Audubon pursued this goal though Kentucky and south to New Orleans, westward on the Missouri River, and in Great Britain. They depict in detail the great lengths to which Audubon went in his search for bird species to commit to canvas. He often ignored his own health and well-being in his quest. Audubon also all but abandoned his wife and children in his pursuit of birds, but his wife was able to welcome him back once he returned. The biography reveals his conflicts with other scientists and how he was often in competition with another ornithologist, Alexander Wilson. Audubon was also troubled by the fact that his publisher preferred the more scientific drawings of another artist—as it happened, one who had been a former colleague and mentor of Audubon’s.
Perhaps most controversial to contemporary readers is Audubon’s tendency to kill the specimens he intended to paint. There was no malice in this, as it was done to give him better and closer views of the birds he illustrated. Grolleau and Royer point out that this was a common practice among naturalists and researchers of the time, and that they operated with a different set of standards than today’s naturalists. Judging Audubon by modern standards, they imply, would be highly unfair.
A Publishers Weekly contributor remarked that readers will easily feel empathy “with the rapture at nature as portrayed in the lush, strange beauty of these pages.” Reviewer Annie Bostrom, writing in Booklist, called the book a “valuable depiction of pioneering naturalism and an American wilderness that are hard to fathom today.” In a Foreword Reviews assessment, writer Peter Dabbene found Grolleau and Royer’s work to be “more than mere biography: it’s a book that leaves a lasting impression, in words and especially images, of a man whose legacy survives to this day.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor concluded that Audubon is a “luscious, reimagined biography that will attach a personality to a famous name for 21st-century readers.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2017, Annie Bostrom, review of Audubon: On the Wings of the World, p. 33.
Foreword Reviews, May-June 2017, Peter Dabbene, review of Audubon.
Internet Bookwatch, July, 2017, review of Audubon.
Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2017, review of Audubon.
Publishers Weekly, April 3, 2017, review of Audubon, p. 61.
Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 2017, Mary Ellen Snodgrass, review of Audubon, p. 79.
ONLINE
Fabien Grolleau Website, http://www.fabiengrolleau.fr (January 26, 2018).
Fabien Grolleau has written and created several comics for Vide Cocagne (which he co-founded) as well as the graphic novel, Jaques a Dit.
In French
Grolleau, Fabien. Audubon on the Wings of the World
Mary Ellen Snodgrass
40.3 (Aug. 2017): p79.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
2Q * 2P * M * (G)
Grolleau, Fabien. Audubon on the Wings of the World. Illus. by Jeremie Royer. Nobrow Press, 2017. 184p. $22.95. 978-1-910620-15-1.
A good idea not fully realized, Grolleau and Royer's graphic biography lacks the narrative conventions necessary to illuminate the passion and artistry of John James Audubon, the classic American naturalist. Many of the eels look repetitive and the characters and settings remain unidentified. Relationships seem shallow and peremptory, and the passage of time is unstated.
The continuity of the story are needs clear transition for readers to understand the painter's motivations for deserting his family for so many years as well as his wife's ability to welcome him home after leaving her to rear their children. The authors introduce the idea of killing birds and animals to preserve them in paintings, but fail to resolve the issue of slaughter in the wild. The end result is a lengthy, befuddling description of the life and career of an obsessive artist who produced valuable glimpses of North American wildlife.--Mary Ellen Snodgrass.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. "Grolleau, Fabien. Audubon on the Wings of the World." Voice of Youth Advocates, Aug. 2017, p. 79. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502000886/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=35703883. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A502000886
Audubon: On the Wings of the World
264.14 (Apr. 3, 2017): p61.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Audubon: On the Wings of the World
Fabien Grolleau and Jeremie Royer. Nobrow, $22.95 (184p) ISBN 978-1-910620-15-1
In this gorgeous graphic novel account of Audubon's life, ahother character accuses the naturalist's art of being "too sentimental, of coming "from an artist's, not a naturalist's point of view." In historical retrospect, that's damning with great praise. It's also the philosophy of this romantic and nontechnical portrayal of Audubon's life and work. Expressive design and subtle color impart the wonder of natural discoveries on the page, accompanying a sometimes nonlinear account of his life. Royer's art holds a mirror to nature that's both idealized and surreal. Royer's depiction of flights of birds so numerous they blot out the sky, or bison herds stretching across the horizon, are so distant from modern comprehension that they feel almost like feverish hallucinations. But it's easy to empathize with the rapture at nature as portrayed in the lush, strange beauty of these pages. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Audubon: On the Wings of the World." Publishers Weekly, 3 Apr. 2017, p. 61. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A489813733/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b0eb4bf5. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A489813733
Audubon: On the Wings of the World
Annie Bostrom
113.14 (Mar. 15, 2017): p33.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Audubon: On the Wings of the World.
By Fabien Grolleau. Illus. by Jeremie Royer. Tr. by Etienne Gilfillan.
Apr. 2017. 184p. Nobrow, $22.95 (9781910620151). 741.5.
French pair Grolleau and Royer base their biography of John James Audubon and his nineteenth-century quest to paint all of North America's birds on Audubon's own accounts of his life. Audubon's dogged passion-project requires him to effectively abandon his wife and children, and he's thwarted all along by publishers' preference for his predecessor and former mentor's recent, more scientific drawings--his are confusing in their emotional component, they say. Grolleau and Royer don't shy from portraying Audubon's slippery, name-changing past; historical cultural insensitivities (Audubon relies on Native American guide Shogan and encounters an escaped slave on his travels); and his budding naturalist's practice of killing his prized birds to better paint them. For this tribute to an artist, Royer's art is appropriately resplendent; the majority of his outdoor scenes feature lighting that immediately relays time of day, weather, and season. Elsewhere, human characters' expressions play second fiddle to a detailed and colorful natural world bursting with life, and breathtaking skyscapes warrant much more than a passing glance.--Annie Bostrom
YA/C: This is a valuable depiction of pioneering naturalism and an American wilderness that are hard to fathom today, in a package sure to appeal to teens. AB.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Bostrom, Annie. "Audubon: On the Wings of the World." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2017, p. 33. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A490998483/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d1ad51cb. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A490998483
Grolleau, Fabien: AUDUBON
(Mar. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Grolleau, Fabien AUDUBON Nobrow Ltd. (Children's Nonfiction) $22.95 4, 4 ISBN: 978-1-910620-15-1
Scenes from the life of the famous 19th-century naturalist John James Audubon, presented in graphic-novel format, demonstrate his passion.Grolleau and Royer introduce the ornithologist in a dramatic prequel in which Audubon, enraptured by a skein of Canada geese, ignores a coming thunderstorm--behavior that will recur throughout his life as he ignores his family, his physical well-being, and the opinions of others to follow his dream of painting all the birds in America, a new and relatively unexplored world for white settlers in the early 19th century. The narrative is organized into 5 sections, roughly identified by the location of his travels: to Kentucky, down the Mississippi, New Orleans, Great Britain, and west on the Missouri. Flashbacks provide background: meeting his faithful wife, feuding with scientists, and competing with ornithologist Alexander Wilson. He bands birds, kills a bear, experiences a three-day flight of passenger pigeons, and laments the disappearance of wildlife with the coming of Europeans. In embellished or imagined episodes he is guided by a Native American, helps a runaway slave, and meets and encourages Darwin. First published in French, this has been smoothly translated by Gilfillan, but it is the picture story that will most engage American readers. The inclusion of four reproductions of Audubon's birds as well as a portrait of Audubon adds a lovely grace note. A luscious, reimagined biography that will attach a personality to a famous name for 21st-century readers. (biography, notes, selective bibliography) (Graphic novel. 10-15)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Grolleau, Fabien: AUDUBON." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A482911808/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=534c37bb. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A482911808
Audubon: On the Wings of the World
(July 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Audubon: On the Wings of the World
Fabien Grolleau & Jeremie Royer
Nobrow
http://nobrow.net
9781910620151 $22.95 amazon.com
Readers of all ages will enjoy Audubon: On the Wings of the World, a colorful graphic novel biography of French-American ornithologist, naturalist and painter John James Audubon (17851851). Born into the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Audubon lacked his father's aptitude for business undertakings, but carried a lifelong passion for birds and nature as well as courage and artistic talent. Audubon: On the Wings of the World is a fascinating and extraordinary life story, highly recommended especially for public library graphic novel collections.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Audubon: On the Wings of the World." Internet Bookwatch, July 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502653073/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7c7e8c9d. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A502653073
Audubon
On The Wings Of The World
Fabien Grolleau
Jérémie Royer (Illustrator)
Etienne Gilfillan (Translator)
Nobrow (Apr 4, 2017)
Hardcover $22.95 (184pp)
978-1-910620-15-1
The name Audubon is synonymous with ornithology, but it’s the man behind the famous wildlife paintings that’s revealed in Fabien Grolleau and Jérémie Royer’s beautiful graphic novel, Audubon: On the Wings of the World.
The environmentalism of Audubon’s era seems paradoxical by today’s standards; like Theodore Roosevelt after him, he shot and killed many creatures while attempting to draw attention to their beauty and emphasize the importance of conservation. This is shown subtly but effectively in Audubon, when he’s depicted shooting down a nesting pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers (a species now critically endangered) and culling from a huge flock of passenger pigeons (a species now extinct). But the book quietly makes the case in defense of Audubon—his was a different era with different standards, to be sure, but moreover, his paintings really did help to impart an appreciation for wildlife in America, particularly with regard to birds.
Royer’s art and composition are superb, and it’s obvious that he, too, spent a lot of time looking at birds in order to produce his own striking illustrations. Royer’s most engaging drawings, though, are Audubon’s surreal dream sequences, incredible compositions that give more insight into the man than all the adventures retold in the book.
Grolleau, meanwhile, has created a masterful blend of Audubon’s own writings and uses a bit of creative license (all explained in the notes at the end of the book). These imaginative assists to the narrative, such as a meeting and conversation between Audubon and Charles Darwin, may not be to the taste of sticklers for fact, but Audubon: On The Wings of the World is more than mere biography: it’s a book that leaves a lasting impression, in words and especially images, of a man whose legacy survives to this day.
Reviewed by Peter Dabbene
May/June 2017